Recently on Radio 5, I was intrigued to hear a piece on the decline of Bookmaker profits, on which they had a real live Bookmaker, introduced as the head of Paddy Power betting shops. And his name was…Paddy Power.
I never thought for a moment that there was a real Paddy Power. And what a fantastic name for a bookie. Almost as if Mr & Mrs Power sr had thought, when the little fella emerged – ‘Let’s give him a name that will mark him out as a really memorable man, one who could perhaps run a whole series of branch and online betting shop emporiums…let us call him…Paddy Power’.
And so it was so.
So that did rather get me to thinking about really good names that were given at birth, with a real insight to their future roles. Here are a few examples:
Vlad the Impaler (well known Impaler)
Johnny Guitar Watson (Guitarist, obviously)
Clarence Gatemouth Brown (Harmonica player)
Fatty Arbuckle (also see Fats Domino and Guitar Slim)
Freddie Parrot Face Davis (err)
Ivan the Terrible (Could have pursued a number of careers, including Karaoke singer, waiter at Little Chef..)
And my particular favourite….
Princess Michael of Kent
In the unlikely event that you wish to add to this list, please do let me know
The Emu 